Liquid measuring and filling device



Feb. 25, 1958 J. s. MONTAGUE :1- AL LIQUID MEASURING ANDFILLING DEVICEFiled July 12, 1954 I V EN TORS United States Patent LIQUID MEASURINGAND FILLING DEVICE James S. Montague and Philip S. Egan, Evanston, Ill.

Application July 12, 1954, Serial No. 442,606

1 Claim. (Cl. 222-23) Our invention relates to liquid measuring andfilling devices especially designed for use with steam irons, althoughreadily adaptable for other purposes.

A particular object of our invention is to provide an article of thetype referred to which will operate by syphonic fiow to supply apredetermined volume of water to the reservoir of a steam iron or otherreceptacle. In its preferred embodiment we provide, in accordance withour invention, an inexpensive article which may conveniently be formedof a moldable flexible plastic material or the like and comprising acontainer portion adapted to receive a predetermined quantity of wateror other liquid with a unitary feed portion for delivering said liquidto a steam iron or other receptacle.

Our invention will be best understood from the drawings forming a parthereof and illustrating a preferred embodiment of our invention,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan of a device embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig.1, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper end of the feed ordelivery tube forming a part of our invention.

The device comprises a generally cup-shaped receptacle 10, the verticalor depth dimension thereof being preferably greater than the breadth orwidth theerof. The cupshaped receptacle 10, may be so formed as toprovide a predetermined volumetric capacity in its overall dimensionsor, preferably, indicia means of some kind is provided below the topthereof marking the upper limit of such predetermined capacity, in thiscase the latter being in the form of a line, ledge or shoulder 12. Thus,by filling the receptacle up to the shoulder 12 a predetermined quantityof water or other liquid may be employed without risk of spilling whenbodily moved.

The receptacle 10 may be formed of any suitable flexible material, suchas thin sheet metal, but is preferably formed of a suitable moldableplastic such as one of the common vinyl esters or other suitableresinous materials, either natural or synthetic, such as rubber. In anyevent, it is desired that this receptacle be of flexible character so asto be readily distortable by manually squeezing the same and of suchresilience that it will return to its orig inal shape on release ofmanual pressure.

The receptacle 10 terminates at the lower portion thereof in a tubularstem 15 which serves as a delivery spout, said stem continuing up intothe receptacle, as indicated by numeral 18, to about the level ofshoulder 12. As seen best in Fig. 3, the stem 15 and its extension ntube 18 are preferably integral with each other and with recpetacle 10.

integrally formed on the tube 18 and extending radially outwardtherefrom is a plurality of vertical ribs 20, these ribs also extendingat 21 above the top edge of tube 18, as seen best in Fig. 4.

A cylindrical cap 25, of somewhat larger diameter than that of tube 18plus the ribs 20, is normally disposed over said tube, said cap beingclosed at the top thereof, as indicated at 27, and open at the bottomthereof. This cap is normally loosely disposed over the tube 18,defining a channel 29 therebetween.

When it is desired to use the device, the stem 15 thereof is insertedinto whatever receptacle it is desired to fill--in its preferredapplication it is inserted into the filling nipple 30 of a steam iron32. Water or other liquidis poured into the receptacle 10 up to theindicia point, such as the shoulder 12, either before or after placingthe device in position for delivery. In order to start the flow anddelivery of liquid, the receptacle 10 is manually squeezed, distortingthe walls thereof inwardly and thus forcing the liquid to rise above theupper extremity of tube 18. Inasmuch as the water will already havefilled the space 29 between said tube 18 and the cap 25, raising thehead of water will, of course, increase the hydrostatic pressure,causing the liquid to overflow the upper extremity of tube 18 and to bedischarged through the delivery spout 15. Upon releasing manual pressureon the walls of the receptacle 10, discharge of the liquid will continueby syphonic action until the contents of receptacle 10 have beenentirely drained. Thus, the measured quantity of liquid will have beenfed out of receptacle 10.

While we have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of ourinvention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variouschanges may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention,and hence we do not wish to be limited to the specific form shown oruses mentioned except to the extent indicated in the appended claim.

We claim:

A liquid measuring and syphonic dispensing device, comprising acup-shaped receptacle having a distortable and resilient side wallportion and a closed bottom wall, a substantially straight tube open atboth ends and'extending through said bottom wall, said tube having itsinlet end disposed a relatively short distance below the upper end ofsaid receptacle and its outlet end a relatively short distance beyondthe bottom wall of said receptacle, the outlet portion of said tubeserving as a spout adapted to be inserted within a filling nipple of aliquid magazine, indicia means on said side wall portion of thereceptacle approximately level with the inlet opening of said tube, agenerally cylindrical .cap member having a closed end disposed over saidtube within the receptacle and spaced from said tube and the bottom ofthe receptacle so as to provide a channel permitting liquid to enter thespace between the cap and the tube and to be discharged from thereceptacle through the tube, means disposed between the tube and saidcap member at the sides and top thereof whereby the cap is maintained inspaced relation to the tube while providing channels for passage ofliquid therebetween, the resilient side wall portion of the receptacleproviding means whereby siphonic discharge of the liquid contents of thereceptacle may be initiated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,589,068 Evans Mar. 11, 1952 2,714,975 Greene Aug. 9, 1955 2,728,491Aneshansley Dec. 27, 1955

